Beneath Those Ice
by FTS-Peace
Summary: (Winter Special - AU) She thought moving to a new town is a good idea and indeed, everything is perfect, except this one particular neighbour. (KL, YS shippers with fragile hearts are suggested not to read this) -Crack Pairing-
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer : I don't own Gundam Seed Series**

Happy reading! (Beware of Grammatical Errors, lol)

Chapter 1

* * *

Snowstorm had severely halted people's activities in Junius 7, with some shops had to close down and the road wasn't even accessible until the Junius 7's municipal cleared it with snowplow truck.

Some said, it was the worst snowstorm that they ever had in 20 years.

However, even the worst snowstorm in the century couldn't stop Lacus Clyne from moving into this small town.

24 years old, single and pretty. That was what people around her always described her. She previously lived in the metropolis of ORB and the buzz of the city was slowly murdering her. Therefore, after giving lots of thoughts, she quit her job as a backup singer and moved to this peaceful rural area of Junius 7, Vesalius Town.

The truck that carried her stuffs parked in front of her new house. The previous owner informed to her that this house had a nice lawn but instead of a nice lawn, all she could see was a small chimney, which barely passed the thickness of the whitish snow.

"Oh my…" she gasped softly, one of her hands was on her pinkish lips.

"Miss Clyne, I'm sorry. With this kind off thickness" the worker with D-lined belly pointed to her house, "…We couldn't help you carried your things into the house now. You might want to call someone to help clear that first"

Her mouth was alternately opened and closed. She was at lost of words. It was impossible to find someone to help her dig all those snow now! And she was miles away from her close friends and her family.

"Miss?" that D-lined belly man asked her again. He sounded impatient.

"Yes?"

"Do you have someone you know here? We need to unload your stuffs here"

The world was getting crueler.

"I… I…." Her gaze darted to the left and right. Someone with platinum blond hair passed by her house and their gaze locked for a split second.

"…you can just put my stuffs here. I'll call someone to help me dig out the snow" she smiled faintly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

And after that man unloaded her stuffs, she sat quietly on one of her furnitures. Her body was shivering as she scrolled down the contact list in her phone. She put a hand on her mouth to blow a warm breath to warm it and then looked around to spot anyone who could help her right now.

Everything around her was covered in snow and there was only her house there.

Wait, she just saw something.

Amidst the snow and pine trees, she could see smoke emitted from a red-bricked chimney, probably not too far from where she stood. God bless, at least she could ask anyone there to help her or probably shelter her for a night?

_-Ding-Dong-_

She rang the bell after she arrived at the door of this red-bricked house. 10 minutes passed by but still, there was no one opening the door.

_-Ding-Dong-_

"I AIN'T BUYING! GO AWAY!"

Someone from inside the house shouted and Lacus stood there, feeling a bit irritated at his rudeness, but she didn't know how to express the irritation that she felt.

_-Ding-Dong-_

She rang it again, "I'm new here, can I…"

The door flung opened in front of her face and a guy with platinum blond hair emerged. His gaze was as cold as the ice and icy cold aura was emitted from this guy.

"What do you want, Woman?" he scowled.

Unfortunately for this man, she didn't even felt intimidated by him. She put her best smile on her face and some twinkling stars in her hopeful eyes before introducing herself to him nicely, "My name is not woman. It's Lacus Clyne"

"And I should care because?" he crossed his arms.

"Because we're going to be neighbors" she craned her neck to meet his gaze before continuing, "The snow covered my house and I can't put my furniture inside because of that. So, I was thinking if you can help me?"

His gaze was still as cold as ever but she could see that he was squeezing his eyes to see her house from where he stood.

"You're going to die" he said monotonely and she was just standing there with her jaw almost detached from her face, literally speaking.

"And that include me if you were thinking that, YOU" he pointed at her, "and ME spending the night digging the snow out"

She let out a relieved sigh as she initially thought that he was cursing at her.

"Come inside, woman. You're freezing. The last thing I want on New Year is a woman die of hypothermia at my door steps.

* * *

A/N:

1- It's all started from a random thought and chats at tumblr about this crack pairing and I was distracted by this pair while I was writing my other stories, so then I was like...what the heck, let's give it a try.

2- This is a Winter special. Means that, I limit it to 5 chapters only and it will end before Spring (or probably earlier than that)

3- Sorry rabid Kira x Lacus and Yzak x Shiho supporters, I never intended to cross you guys /friendly smiles/

4- The full view of this story's cover is here (my tumblr URL which you can find at my profile- (slash)image(slash)39641397366

5- A review would be nice XD


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed Series.

**Chapter 2**

* * *

She dipped her hand into the water to test its temperature before slowly, dipping herself in the tub of warm water. The steam from the warm water filled the entire space of the bathroom and she sank deeper into the tub. A warm relaxing bath was a crucial necessity, especially after she had been stranded out in the middle nothingness with her new house just under own feet. Although, she admitted that it was her fault for moving in without proper preparations.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a faint squeaky sound before a loud bang following soon after.

'_What's that?'_. She straightened her body and stared at the bathroom's door.

Wrapping herself in a bathrobe, she tiptoed out of the bathroom and looked around in her temporary room. Everything was like before she went to bath, except that, there was a bundle of woolen clothes, neatly placed on her bed and a steamy cup of coffee on the small table that was just beside her bed.

And aside from her, there was no one else there. He probably rushed out after he dropped these things here.

She never thought that this man, or what she'd like to call him as Yzak, was the opposite side of hostility and disrespect. Earlier, he had given her an earful of free lecture on how stupid she was for moving here in the middle of the worst winter ever. Plus, despite that they just met, he graced her with his second points that with her gender as woman, it was the worst idea ever to move into this town. And he said that it was due to the fact that the wild wolf's population here was tenth times than the Vesalius Town's dwellers. He even showed her his shotgun that he claimed had shot dead three wolfs yesterday.

And with his vicious vocabulary, who could have thought that he would place a set of comfortable clothes for her and a cup of hot coffee to keep her inside warm?

Maybe there was more of him rather than a pretty face and foul-mouth person.

She gingerly descended the stairs as she heard him slamming his front door. Yzak was standing straight with his back facing her and she couldn't help but smiled a little when she saw him shaking his head to remove the snow on his head. However, her smile faded when their eyes met. He didn't look amused as much as her.

He tossed his snowy headwear to the side and hastily removed his brown boots.

"Thank you for these…" she tugged her dark green woolen shirt, "...and the coffee too"

He scoffed indignantly before passing by her, going to the kitchen.

She felt a bit rejected, "It's not nice to ignore your guest"

"Just because I let you stay tonight, doesn't mean you can act chummy with me". He said as he poured black coffee into his mug. He didn't even look at her.

Lacus frowned a bit before quickly putting a small smile on her face. One of the things that she hated was being treated like a wall! Nevertheless, she still owed him a 'thanks'. After all, he shielded her from the snowstorm for tonight. Well, it wasn't like she had any other choice anyway. The next nearest neighbor was probably miles away from here.

"I'm not acting chummy. I'm thanking you". She uttered the word tranquilly. She didn't permit his coldness affecting her. Indeed, she felt a bit disappointed on his unfriendly manner because he was the only neighbor that was the nearest to her and she would like to get some help from him to dig out those snow that burying her house. However, she tried to think positive and tried to put herself in his shoes. This guy probably had a bad social skills and he probably wasn't really fond of girls. Yes, that was probably the reason he acted so cold to her. She was sure that deep inside, he was a good man. After all, he took her in, gave her comfortable clothing and a warm coffee. Wasn't that generous?

He leisurely sipped his coffee, "I don't need your thanks. I helped you not because I want your gratitude, woman"

"And it still rude for me not to say thanks to you. Do you expect me to behave like an ungrateful person and just go to sleep without a care?"

His icy gaze almost seemed like he was trying to murder her through his eyes and Lacus flinched a bit, feeling a bit threatened. However, she still maintained a smile on her face, facading her own discomfort of his stare.

"And I'll be very glad if you call me Lacus"

"Fine. Your gratitude is accepted. Whatever pleases you!" he scoffed again before muttering under his breath, "…dumb city girl"

* * *

Lacus put a plate of cookies, four cups and a jug of coffee on the tray before slowly walking towards her house. Her footsteps marks were left on the whitish snow as she slowly reaching her destination. Her house was slowly getting visible thanks to Yzak and his friends, who had been working since morning digging out the snow and she was really grateful to them, but specially, to Yzak. Who would have thoughts that yesterday, while she was taking her warm bath, he went to her house and covered her furniture with large vinyl cover? Had it not for him, her furniture probably got damage more than now. And yesterday, she couldn't thinking straight and just went off to the nearest house she seen for shelter.

However, he had clamped her mouth shut when she was about to say thanks to him. And because of that, she felt like she owed him. To make her felt more in debt to him, he had shooed her to his house to make a hot coffee instead of letting her digging out the snow with him. When she kept on insisting that she wanted to help, he had threatened her with his shovel in his hand.

"Coffee break!", she called out to Yzak and his friends. They instantly turned to look at her and everyone except Yzak had a smile on their faces.

"Thank you Miss Lacus". The youngest of the four; Nicol Amalfi, took the cup that she handed to him and carefully sipped the hot black coffee. A smile graced his baby face and her inside warmed up looking at his smiles. She heard that Nicol was a kindergarten teacher and a part time pianist. Previously, when she mentioned that she used to be a singer, he was so eager for her to visit his kindergarten and sing for the kids there. And therefore, she made a promise to him to drop by at his kindergarten soon. But first, she needed a map of this place or else, she would end up in nowhere.

She poured the coffee into another cup and handed it to the tall blond in front of her whose gaze was everywhere but her. Her blue eyes carefully observed this tall guy. In this snowy town, his features were really striking. His skin had the colour of gingerbread and his hair had the colour of ripe lemons. Nonetheless, her hand was getting tired from holding out his coffee while he was looking at somewhere far. He flinched when the one with navy blue hair nudged his arm.

Lacus smiled when the tall blond reached for his cup.

"So, I heard that you came from ORB. You must be in shocked after realizing that this town is nothing else other than excessive snow and wolves". His voice was so deep and his amethyst eyes peered at her. Like Yzak on her their first meeting, this man seemed a bit inimical. Maybe it was due to his tiredness or maybe... it was just her.

"Dearka". The navy blue haired man frowned at him. And by his tone, she knew that it was some kind of subtle warning. Her late father always used that tone when she did something that displeased him.

"I like snow" she replied calmly while her eyes darting towards the silver head that was still digging out the snow. She wondered why he was still there. Why didn't he come to get some coffee? Wasn't he tired already? Should she call him?

"Don't worry about him. His mouth is garbage but I assure you he's a nice person inside" Dearka added more after seeing her attention went to Yzak, "Anyway, welcome to our town Miss Lacus. My small bar is just 5 kilometers from here and if you needed anything, just ring me". Dearka flashed a small smile before putting his cup on the tray and then resumed his earlier task.

"Athrun here is a mechanic. You should keep his number in your phone Miss Lacus, he can repair almost everything" Nicol chuckled amusedly before continuing, "…well, except broken hearts"

She chuckled when Athrun gave Nicol a disapproved glance.

"I shall do that" she said it in between her chuckles and Nicol looked satisfied.

A small dot of snow fell onto her nose and she heard the sound of Yzak grumbling from where she stood. It seemed that the snow started to fall again and it would be a problem if they didn't finish their diggings.

"YAH! ZALA! NICOL! GET YOUR ASSESS HERE NOW!"

* * *

The house was finally accessible to her and Yzak's friends had helped her transferred the furniture into the house before returning to their own houses. They continually apologized to her for not being able to properly help her arrange the furniture as the snowstorm was impending. Of course after hearing that another snowstorm was imminent, she was scared to be left alone but nothing could be done. They also had their own families to take care of and she didn't have the heart to ask them to stay.

She observed the inner structure of her new house. The wall was half red woods, half bricks and the ceiling was so high. It was such a nice house, but why the previous owner left this to her with low price? Was it because of the wolves? Or was it because of the abundant of snow?

The air in the room was so chilly that she had to continuously rub her own arms.

Perhaps, she should light up the stove? She didn't have any woods to be burned in the fireplace anyway.

_'Okay where's the kitchen?'_

She ran in and out of the rooms hastily that she tripped her own foot on the slippery marble floor. Her face planted on the floor first when she fell down and she let out a very unfeminine yowl due to the indescribable pain in her nose.

"That's what I call, epic _House-Warming Ceremony_"

She turned her head towards the door and saw Yzak standing by the door while clapping his hands. His face looked so amused and his snickers echoed in the room.

"I think my nose is broken". She whimpered silently and his snickers died instantly.

After four quick strides towards her, he sat in front of her and pried her hand from her small nose.

"Let me see that" he sounded strict but there was no doubt that he was concern about her. What have gotten into him?

Nonetheless, she let him inspect the damage on her nose and suddenly, seeing him in this close proximity made some heat crept into her cheeks.

The snow that was falling down outside never had any sounds but somehow, she could hear pummeling sounds faintly.

After a moment, a realization dawned upon her and she unconsciously bit her bottom lip. Of course she had been hearing this repetitive _'Ba-dump Ba-dump'_ sound. It came from inside her!

The way his eyebrows furrowed and the way his blue eyes focusing on her nose was so euphoric in her eyes. And the way his fingers carefully trailing her nose were giving her butterflies inside. It was unsettling for her that she felt like a stalker as she observed his features without him noticing it. Wasn't it rude to stare? But then, she never had any chance to properly study his face before because he had vehemently warned her not to stare and she just nodded at him because more than anything, she wanted to have a peaceful relationship with her neighbor.

"It's not broken, wimp", his eyes were still on her nose before slowly, their blue eyes locked on each other. And each seconds felt like eternity. Their eyes seemed to be knitted together by an invisible thread, each unable to look away

She swallowed the nonexistent lump in her throat.

He unknowingly bit his lips.

The snow was still continuously falling down outside.

"I…uh… the stove. I need to find it"

"You need some woods, I'll go get it"

Both spoke and scrambled away. They didn't even know from who they were actually trying to escape from.

* * *

Vesalius Town wasn't really bad in her book. Even though the snowstorm here was harsher than any other place in the planet, she heard that the spring that would come after winter was worth to wait. However, she didn't come here just to wait for spring.

She came here for a change of atmosphere. Without any doubt, her job as a singer in Archangel's Choir group packed lots of money for her but then, it was getting stressful and she lost her own life's goal. She thought, a change of atmosphere would give her some kind of new motivation in her life. She would start from the scratch here, as soon as possible. And hopefully, there was no snowstorm tomorrow.

She put a tray of food on the table and sat down on the cold couch not too far from Yzak. Her eyes then, slowly trailed to him. He was looking at the fireplace silently. The room was dark since there was an electricity failure happening in town but the woods that were burning in the fireplace gave enough lights and heat for both of them. Their shadows were embedded on the other side of the wall.

Thankfully, the crackling sound that came from the fireplace echoed in the room and she didn't have to say something to break the silence between them. She had much to say to him but most of the time, she felt tongue-tied.

Tonight, he was here to accompany her and again, she felt indebted.

"You shouldn't move here", he voiced out monotonedly. There was a reflection of fire in his blue eyes as his gaze maintained on the fireplace.

"Am I… unwelcome here?" she brought her legs closer to her body. To be honest, she was beginning to feel sick at the same speech.

"It's dangerous for women"

"Yes. I already heard that million times. From you, Dearka and Athrun", she sipped her own coffee. It was already two days for her at this new town but the people here were so unwelcoming.

He reached for the cookies on the tray and looked at her challengingly, "It's not too late to pack and get out from here"

She returned his gaze with her own and although it was not a defying gaze, it was never a yielding gaze either, "I never back out once I've decided something"

"Tomorrow, you'll see why this town lack of women" he said as he leaned onto the couch. He fished out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit it up.

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do" she feigned a smile and tried to appear resolute in his eyes. She knew that she looked weak on the outside but inside, she was still a stubborn child that wanted to defy what she had been told 'No' to.

"Just don't come to me later and crying". A puff of smoke emitted from his cigarette and it dispersed in the air.

"I'll come to you with my cookies"

Their eyes met again and this time, Yzak instantly tore his gaze from her. He tried to focus his attention on his cigarette rather than her.

"My father said my cookies is the best in the world"

"Whatever"

"Especially my chocolate chips cookies"

"Whatever"

"You'll like it"

"Whatever"

"Then, you'll end up begging for me to bake for you everyday"

"Whatever"

"And I'll always glad to bake for you"

"Whatever"

She chuckled at each of his "Whatever". He probably didn't have anything good to retort at her words.

They fell in silence again and Lacus gathered her thick blanket around her body and stared at the fireplace.

"If you come with your cookies, I'll chase you away with axe" he finally replied and she was surprised when the next thing she heard was his merry laughs.

It was then when she remembered what her late father told her, _'Once in a while, you'll meet someone iridescent and nothing else can compare'_

Was he iridescent enough?

Her eyes discreetly observed him again. His shoulders were moving as he tried to suppress his laughs.

She smiled widely,_ 'U-huh... Maybe..' _

* * *

A/N:

1- Thank you for your supports on this story! Thank you reviewers!

2- I was supposed to upload this a week ago, but the internet connection here sucks...sorry. And by the way, I didn't check for the grammars at all. Sorry if the errors are too much.

3- So, I was wondering, does Yzak here too OOC? I know he like to yell and stuffs, but I never seen he yells or appears too rude at girls in the series? And besides, I never ever thought that writing in Lacus POV is hard! LOL... and by the way, I was half inspired by "Snowflower/ Yuki no Hana" song . Here's the link if you guys want to check it out. (Youtube)/watch?v=BDmP7cU3lGg


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed Series**

**Happy reading!**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"_Aprillius Four faces a severe water crisis as 13 million residents slowly drain its aquifer. An environmental group led by Professor Gilbert Durandal is suggesting a plan to install rainwater harvesting systems on individual homes, but city officials are not convinced it will work…"_

She stopped chopping her carrot and stepped backwards to get a better view of the TV in the living room. The news about drought in Aprillius Four really took away her attention from her jabbed carrot. She used to live in that state, particularly in Minerva City when she was five and if time didn't screw her memory, that state was blessed with warm weather throughout the year and drought never hit them.

Well, not until now.

"That's terrible…" she voiced out what was in her mind while her blue eyes still locked on the TV from where she stood. The carrot was long forgotten.

"I know right! The breakup's aftermath is too much for her"

Upon hearing that mellow voice tone, she turned her head towards the source of the voice; Miriallia Haww. That lady was one of her best friends since high school and now working as a freelance photographer. Miriallia still kept her trademark short hair style with the end of it curled upwards and sometimes, Lacus did wondered when Miriallia would ever change her hairstyle.

"I didn't talk about Cagalli you know. I was referring to the drought in Aprillius Four" she returned to her kitchen counter and stared at her uneven cuts of carrots.

The sound of the Miriallia's knife on the chopping board was mixed together with the sound of brewing soup and the sound that came from the TV at the living room.

"Really? I thought you were. Anyway…" Miriallia leaned in closer to her and put a hand beside Lacus' ear, "…she didn't cry even one drop. Kudos for her" Miriallia whispered softly. Her turquoise eyes peered at the living room where Cagalli was in.

"Cagalli is a tough girl. But I wonder if she's crying inside" Lacus spoke softly to ensure that whatever she said would not get to Cagalli's ears. Earlier, when she heard that Cagalli going to visit her, she never thought that actually, Cagalli was facing some problem and she had never guessed that it was about Yuuna. After knowing from Cagalli that everything was over, part of her felt like crying for Cagalli. After all, Cagalli was expecting Yuuna to propose since weeks ago.

Once again, she returned her focus on the jabbed carrots on her chopping board. The soup won't taste good if the carrots weren't evenly cooked. Maybe, relationship was like this soup that she was making, a hot mess. It was nice to fall in love but then, when that relationship suddenly came to its dead end, would it be a nightmare or just a nice memory?

She wondered how herself would react if she had a boyfriend of three years that cheated behind her back? Would she commit suicide? Self harmed? Begged him to return to her? Or would she forgive him and move on?

However, she never had any boyfriend before. Every boy that she met in the past flatly rejected her for a reason that only god-knows.

Miriallia stopped chopping her radish and stared blankly at the window in front of her. The snow was falling slowly outside and her turquoise eyes followed its movement until it landed on the ground. Then, Miriallia turned to her side to face Lacus, "Yuuna isn't even worth a single tear from Cagalli. I'm sure she knows that"

Sometimes... Lacus envied the friendship of Miriallia and Cagalli. Both of them had been friends since kids and she came into the picture in their high school years. Therefore, she wondered if the concern that she felt about Cagalli wasn't as greater as Miriallia's. And sometimes, she wished she knew her friends like Miriallia did.

"God bless that their relationship lasted only for three years Lacus. Imagine if this thing happens when they already marry and have kids. The damage will be beyond repair" Miriallia exclaimed again.

Lacus reminisced the initial moment she met Yuuna Roma Seiran. People said first impression lasted but she was never a person who judged others on their first meeting. Take Yzak for an example, sure his words were harsh but then, until now, he had helped her without asking anything in return. It had been two weeks since she came here and Yzak had come to her house at least once every two days to help her plowing out the snow, restocking her foods and did a general inspection on her electronic devices.

"I guess you're right. People said everything happened for a reason" She smiled a little when the image of Yzak tripped on her marble floor yesterday flashed in her mind. Let's just say that Karma hit him for mocking her two weeks ago.

"Let's just drop this depressing topic" Miriallia shrugged before dumping the slices of cabbage into her soup. Then, she faced Lacus, "Cagalli and I thought that skiing here will be awesome!" the last part ended in a squealing manner that made Lacus flinched a bit. And Miriallia didn't miss it. Her brown eyebrows rose quizzically at Lacus' reaction. She thought Lacus knew that one of her reasons to come here was to hop on the board and skied down the slope.

"Isn't that dangerous? I mean, I've been warned about wolves by locals here"

"That's silly Lacus. Who told you that? Pfft…!" Miriallia leaned on the kitchen counter and her hand wave off all Lacus' words.

Lacus crossed her arms and tilted her head, "Miriallia… I'm serious"

They stared at each other while the sound of boiling soup instantly became their background music at the moment.

"Fine…. At least let me take a nice mountain's picture" Miriallia used her hands to make an imaginary camera and moved around as if she was taking a picture.

Lacus' smile widened," I'll try asking around if there's some kind of ride for you to go closer to the mountains"

* * *

"_Aprillius Four faces a severe water crisis as 13 million residents slowly drain its aquifer. An environmental group led by Professor Gilbert Durandal is suggesting a plan to install rainwater harvesting systems on individual homes, but city officials are not convinced it will work…"_

"I can't believe that there're other parts of earth having a drought now, while we stuck in the _friggen_ blizzard" Dearka threw his arms to the air before slumping down on Yzak's couch.

The said platinum blond who was currently wiping his wine glass rolled his blue eyes behind Dearka. Nicol who noticed Yzak's annoyed glares chose to silence himself, even though he shared the same thoughts as Dearka. Meanwhile, Athrun who sat on a single couch seemed to be fixated on the TV to care about anything else right now.

"I can't even believe that you never flunked in geography when we were in high school" Yzak said in his acid tone before returning the wine glass into its drawer.

"Don't worry dude, I can't even believe myself either" Dearka sneered to himself before turning his head to face Yzak, "Anyway, did you see that there's an extra car in Lacus' yard?"

The way Dearka mentioned her first name so casually somehow irked him. He didn't even call her Lacus, so how, when and why Dearka had all the right to say her name!?

That was utterly bullshit.

His eyes met Dearka's purple one. And from the look of it, Dearka was still waiting for his answer and so, he just stood there, eyes roaming on the ceiling while trying to give an appropriate answer without hinting out that he was actually curious about that too.

Can he just glared at him?

"Aware of that. Probably her family or boyfriend for all I care" he finally answered, and he hoped he sounded confident. Since when he started to doubt himself anyway?

Dearka's lips slowly forming a smile and as it getting wider, Yzak scowled in his head. He got a feeling that he was going to get an earful from Dearka.

"And I'm for sure aware that you've been helping her these past weeks. Anything to confess my man?"

Dearka stifled a chuckled and Nicol who had been watching the news turned his head towards the two buddies. Something interesting was going to happen. He was sure of it.

Yzak put his hands on his waist and glared murderously at the blond lad. What was he implying? For god sake he was just making sure that the pink city girl survived at least until spring!

"Don't get any ideas Dearka. If there's anything to confess is I'd like you to get off from my couch and give me back my remote!"

Dearka's eyes widened and an annoyed expression appeared on his face, "I don't have the remote! Athrun has it!" he pointed his index finger at the blue lad. Nicol's brown eyes shifted from Yzak to Dearka. If there was a thing that he noticed, it was Yzak trying to divert the topic.

"Why don't you guys watch that damn news at your own house?" Yzak glared down at Dearka who was now lying down on Yzak's couch.

Dearka smiled at him, "You know that I just sold my TV set"

"My niece threw a vase at my TV. The rest is history", Athrun answered in his lukewarm tone.

"Then you should've watched it at Nicol's house!" Yzak's glares were getting intense.

People said, if looks could kill then these bunch of three stooges probably dead by now.

Nicol grabbed the mug's handle and sipped his hot choco, "Your house is warmer"

Unfortunately for Yzak, the three of them were invulnerable to his glares.

Yzak almost lost his mind at the amount of nonsense he heard from his friends. To be honest, he didn't really mind that they decided to make his place as their hang-out place but recently, he just wanted to be alone to collect his mind about a certain lady. He had been dreaming about her these days and he swore that it wasn't good for his mental health. It was all that city girl's fault! She was the one who kept feeding him muffins and listening to his stories about his bookstore when in the past, no one ever cared. It wasn't like he forced her to listen! It just happened one day when he accompanied her through a snowstorm and they just sat before the fireplace and shared their stories, which, ended up him talking more than he did the past 24 years of his life.

Consequently, as much as he addicted to his black coffee, he was addicted to her.

And that, was not good, period.

"I swear one day I'll throw you guys out to the wolves as their dinner!" he left the living room and get back to his kitchen to find his coffee-beans' jar.

"How nice of you" Dearka and Athrun answered in their usual 'yeah right, whatever' tone.

While dumping a two tablespoon of coffee mixed into his mug, his eyes gazed to the outside of his window, locking it to the city girl's house amidst the pine trees.

"At least help me out by throwing out those garbage you brought in, bastards"

* * *

She tied her long pink hair into a hair bun and walked towards the living room and then, sat down beside her blonde friend, Cagalli. Her friend's golden amber eyes were still on the TV, where the news program was still on. However, she could see that Cagalli's gaze was blank.

Should she say something? Should she pat her shoulder?

"What do you feel when watching yourselves on TV?"

It was Miriallia that breaking the silence and she felt grateful for that. She was as talkative as Miriallia but she wasn't really pro at initiating the conversation. She watched Miriallia nudged Cagalli to get her attention and Cagalli turned her head towards Miriallia.

"I looked pretty" Cagalli gave them a tight smile before slumping back on the couch and it was cleared to Lacus' eyes that Cagalli was burying her sorrow inside. Sure Cagalli looked nonchalant but she knew that Cagalli wasn't a person who cried easily. Especially for a guy.

"Of course you are. You're the prettiest, glamorous and the most famous news anchor in Orb" Lacus giggled before poking the blonde's arm. She hoped she didn't sound silly though, "And you know what? You're my bestest best friend in this whole world"

"Hey! What about me?" Miriallia faked a sulk and she gave Miriallia the playful look.

She gave Cagalli a comforting look and put a palm on Cagalli's right cheek, "…and you deserved someone better than Yuuna"

There was a blatant silence after she said that and at this moment, she imagined that Yzak would suddenly appear and make some noise just to chase away the stillness in the room.

But then, Yzak was not here.

Her trance broke off when she felt a warm hand grasped hers. A pair of golden amber eyes stared at her and she realized how lively they were than before, "Thanks. I know I can hold up against the pain, but with you two, I'm much stronger"

Her smiles widened and she moved closer to Cagalli to give her a friendly hug. Miriallia also copied her action and the three of them engulfed in a big hug. She felt a pat on her hand and observed Cagalli's facial expression. It was kind of impish and something was certain.

"You two, marry me" Cagalli uttered it playfully.

The real Cagalli Yula Athha had returned to her and Miriallia's side.

Miriallia released Cagalli from her hug and raised an eyebrow towards Cagalli, "Do it right Miss Athha. On your knees and propose with a diamond ring"

Lacus chuckled as she watched Cagalli's smirked.

"Right, open your mouth now, I want to put my fist in it"

The sound of their laughs echoed in that living room making the atmosphere livelier than before.

"Anyway Lacus, what do you think about this town? The snow was like….dang…." Cagalli asked earnestly with her hands moved in random movement while Lacus changed the channel of the TV with her remote. First thought that came to her mind was the town's people were so unwelcoming. But then, it changed when she got to know them better. It wasn't because she was an outsider, it was just because they were concern about her well-being. It wasn't safe for a lady to live alone according to them.

Yes, Yzak had been telling that to her millions of time, although his version was ten times harsher than Dearka's and Athrun's version.

But what made her a little bit upset was Yzak still calling her 'Woman' than what she insisted him to call her. It was as if he was trying to put a gap between them and she didn't like that! More than anything, she wanted them to have a friendly neighbor relationship where they could depend on each others.

"I heard the spring here is so lovely and since they aren't many of us here, the people are close to each others. And my closest neighbor is so kind, he always comes to help out"

"A 'He'?" Cagalli narrowed her eyes and Lacus stared squarely at Cagalli. Did she just say something wrong?"

"His name is Yzak Joule" she blurted out when Cagalli continued to stare at her in anticipation.

"I bet the one who owned that red-bricked house there" Miriallia pointed to the outside of the window, although Yzak's house was at the opposite direction actually.

"How does he look like?" Cagalli tore the plastic bag of seaweed crackers and leaned against the couch.

His features appeared on Lacus' mind. His platinum blond hair was straight and ended just under his ears. The cutting was a bit like china doll, nevertheless it fitted him perfectly. His eyes were blue and bright but Lacus wasn't really sure whether it was a sky blue or icy blue since she couldn't really stared at his eyes. It scared her that whenever her eyes locked at his blue one, she would lost in the depth of his eyes and she couldn't think straight after that. His lips were thin but then, it was inviting…

She shook her head to clear the unnecessary thought about her neighbor and her friends turned their heads towards her.

"Lacus?"

She blinked her eyes numerously, "Yes?"

Cagalli poked her side causing her to flinch a little.

"Still in Vesalius?"

She smiled to assure them that she was still there, although a moment ago, she was lost in her thoughts about her platinum haired neighbor.

"If you're curious about him, why don't you figure it out yourself? He's coming here at eight" she stood up and gathered the junk foods' containers on the table and dumped it her trash bin.

Miriallia and Cagalli looked at each other before turning their heads towards Lacus.

"No fun", Miriallia crossed her arms under her bosom.

She was going to prepare the table for dinner when she realized that she forgot something important. The clock on the wall showed 6.45 pm and she put a palm on her forehead, "Oh my…"

Cagalli stood up near her and watched her amusingly.

"Something wrong?" the blonde asked.

She looked at Cagalli before flashing to her a small smile, "Nothing, it's just that there's a truck coming to fetch recycle items at seven" she tilted her head a little, "Can you help me arrange these boxes outside? I totally forgot about it!"

"Sure" Her blonde friend smiled and shooed her aside so that she could pick up the box, "I'll call Miriallia to help me. You go and do your stuffs"

"Thanks!" Lacus smiled before heading towards the kitchen to prepare their dinner. As she stirred her soup, she could hear vaguely, that Cagalli was shouting out to Miriallia.

* * *

"Achoo!"

Dearka rubbed his nose before he hugged his body tightly. He was told from Athrun that the temperature of Vesalius Town had dropped to minus thirty seven and if there was any other snowstorm coming, it probably dropped to minus forty degrees.

'_God, please have mercy'_

It wasn't like he was a pious person or anything. But sometimes, he prayed when he felt the desperation. Like when, lesser people came to his bar day by day because of the severe snowstorm. God, had it not because his father was still here, he for sure already got his ass out of this town.

His thoughts were zapped out of his mind when a snowball hit the back of his head. Some of the snow went into his woolen shirt, causing him to jump around because of the frozen substance made contact with his skin.

Maybe, he should just move out to Egypt. Or somewhere warmer. Hell sounded good too…

"0 for Elsman and 1 for Amalfi!"

Nicol cheered as he started to pile a snow into his hands and Dearka was alarmed that Nicol was about to launch another attack on him. So, he gathered a palm sized snow in his hands and randomly threw it at Nicol's direction. However, that snowball unfortunately landed on Athrun and the last thing he knew, rather than helping Yzak to dump his garbage, they ended up in a heated snowball war.

"When I said help me out to sort out the bottles and cans, it didn't include anything about snowball fights"

Yzak emerged at his yard and looked at them sourly. He was in thick black fur clothing and a pair of brown boots. On his head was a black, thick headwear. His face didn't look amuse and if Dearka could read what was in Yzak's mind at the moment, he would piss in his pants right there.

"He started it!" the trio pointed at each other accusingly.

He narrowed his eyes towards them and was about to give them a piece of his mind when a truck drove into his house's lane. He walked in a big five steps forward and stood in front of the newcomer proudly.

"Joule" the man greeted him with a nod and Yzak gave a slight nod in return.

"Newmann" he spoke with his trademark icy voice tone, "You're late. These imps were about to throw out my things here" he pointed at a box of plastic bottles neared Dearka.

"Exaggerations" Dearka casually uttered it while crossing his arms.

The man in thick, brown fur-jacket slowly got out of his truck and walked towards Yzak's boxes. His raven colored hair that was parted in the middle fell down to cover his forehead as he bent to pick up the box.

"It's just ten minutes late. I was with the ladies at that house" he pointed at Lacus' house and Yzak's facial expression becoming tight.

"Had a really fun time speaking with them. It's not always our small town graced with the presence of someone from TV" Newmann's small eyes were literally smiling. It was obvious that he had fun talking to the girls.

"Who?" he didn't even realize that question escaped from his mouth.

Newmann rubbed his temple, trying to get the girl's name, "The ORB-101's news anchor, Cagalli Yu-something"

"Cagalli Yula Athha" Athrun suddenly voiced out to correct him. Yzak scoffed openly at Athrun. Of course he'd know, that bluehead was a news-freak!

"That's the name" Newmann smiled and his dimples appeared. "By the way, they were asking about you" he continued while pointing to Yzak.

"Heh, what's worth asking about Yzak anyway" Dearka scoffed, "She might be here to for the _hollabobo_ snowstorm in our town" he shrugged before kicking the snow on the ground. Then, he raised an eyebrow when some kind of theory flashed in his head, "Unless... Yzak found a goldmine…" he turned to Yzak, "Did you?"

Newmann, Nicol and Athrun simultaneously turned their heads towards Yzak.

And Yzak inwardly groaned…

Sometime, he wished he was not in Vesalius to deal with this bunch of morons.

* * *

It was already 8.20pm and Lacus right now was having her own little snowstorm in the kitchen…well, in the form of Yzak Joule actually.

"I thought I told you that tonight there'll be a town committee meeting!" he was half shouting, half suppressing his tone. The others were in the dining room while the two of them were here, in the small kitchen.

As usual, she put a smile on her face as she knew, that was the best weapon to defend herself from his earful lecture. It was weird that only two weeks required for her to master the technique to subdue his flaring old-man temper. Well, it wasn't really easy. She just had to be a bit patient and smiled, smiled and smiled more until he shut up.

She saw his silver eyebrows arched upwards and she couldn't help but to reach at his cheeks and stretched it.

His fair cheeks felt cold against her warm fingers.

"You should smile more"

Their eyes met briefly and she was amused when she saw his penetrating gaze changed into a bewildered one.

Her little trance zapped out when she felt his palms enveloping her hands and slowly, kept it away from his face. She leaned back a bit when he dipped down to level his own gaze to hers.

His nose almost touched hers and somewhere in her ribcage, something was pummeling radically.

"Don't give me that bullshit Miss Clyne" he said before he straightened himself.

Her legs almost wobbled and she was sure that if it wasn't because of the kitchen counter that she leaned against, she probably on the floor, fainting.

"I guess we just have to bring them to the committee meeting as well. You don't have things like ditching them here in your mind right?"

A voice cut through the silence between Yzak and Lacus and both of them turned their heads towards the voice source. It was Athrun and oddly, he had a smile on his face rather than his usual boring expression.

She smiled, acknowledging his presence and watched as he collected the plates from the drawer. By then, she realized that she was supposed to get the cutleries instead of listening to Yzak's speech.

"You were eavesdropping on us?" Yzak hissed, totally ignoring that Athrun just made a suggestion. What bothered him at the moment was that blue lad had been listening to his conversation with Lacus.

"Shut the door if it's supposed to be private" Athrun shrugged before smiling slightly at Lacus, "I'm going to arrange to the plates. Please handle the old man with care"

Athrun's figure disappeared from their sight and Yzak quickly shut the kitchen door before standing in front of Lacus.

She gave him a puzzled look and he rolled his eyes.

"Girls" he started, "Since the town scarce of them, anyone will be happy seeing someone with pair of boobs and a…" he stopped abruptly after he realized that he went overboard.

He'd like to slap himself there.

Or probably, buried himself six feet under.

She chuckled. That explained the cheerful look on Athrun, Dearka and Nicol when they suddenly tagged along with Yzak. Of course she had been expecting Yzak to come but she never expected that the trio would come too.

"Am I not a girl? They don't look that way to me?" she tilted her head as she asked that. It somewhat bothered her when she realized that what he just said implied that she was lacking criteria to be a woman in their eyes.

He scoffed before crossing his arms, "You're attached to me, like hell they'll ogle at you!"

Fortunately, Vesalius Town was having winter and not summer because if it was, you could hear cricket sounds at the back as the atmosphere in that particular room suddenly became hella awkward after what he just said.

"Attached?" her voice was low as if she was whispering. Her gaze was on the floor while her cheeks were slowly getting reddish.

He scratched the back of his head as he tried to get out from the hole he just dug. For god sake, why of all time he just had to say something that implied _something_? He looked at her briefly before throwing his gaze outside. And of all time, why she had to look like a goddess with that faint blush on her cheeks? Whatever Gods up there probably enjoyed screwing with his life and was having a good laugh right now!

"We're neighbors fools!" he almost stuttered.

It was odd that some part of her wanting to hear something else. Of course they were neighbors, what else could it be?

As usual, she flashed a smile to hide her unsettling feelings inside. "I think, what Athrun said is right. I don't want to let my friends stay here alone while the town's people are all in the meeting. After all, it's dangerous as according to what you said"

He looked a bit surprised but the rest of expression was too vague to be read by Lacus as he shifted his gaze to the outside.

"They just came uninformed. I'm sorry" she spoke softly.

"What I said earlier…"

His calm tone surprised her. Yzak Joule speaking calmly and civically was something new to her. So, she waited keenly on what he was going to say.

In her mind, she was wondering on what he was thinking right now. His gaze was still fixed on the outside view and from where she stood, she silently observed his side face. His jaw was really defined and sharp.

"I didn't mean to say that you can't have a visit from your friends"

When he looked at her right in her eyes, she went blank. It was as if she was bonded to stare at those beautiful eyes of his and her mind didn't have to think of anything else. At the moment, all her attention was on him. Her mind refused all her logic.

"It's just that…"

It was the knocks on the door that broken the Yzak's curse on her.

Yzak grunted before he walked towards the door and opened it. It was Cagalli… with glares on her face directed toward Yzak.

"Lacus, the food is getting cold. Whatever you're discussing right now, couldn't it wait?"

* * *

They dined together in an animated atmosphere. Dearka was leading the whole conversation while Nicol and Athrun added some stuffs in it. Her friends, Miriallia and Cagalli were just nodding and sometimes smiled at those three. Miriallia wasn't really friendly towards strangers what more, over-friendly stranger like Dearka, while Cagalli was becoming more guarded since she just broke up with Yuuna. Interacting with male species at the moment was at the bottom of her 'to do' list. Thus, she was aware that a pair of emerald eyes was observing her and decided to focus on her plate. All guys at the moment were in her bad book.

"So… Mr. Joule, I heard you own a bookstore?" Cagalli raised her head to look at Yzak.

"Yes, his bookstore is just a few blocks from my workshop" Athrun said before Yzak could open his mouth.

"Athrun, I don't think I ever hired you as my lawyer to speak on my behalf?"

"I know. Keep quiet Yzak" Athrun smiled amicably at him, but his emerald eyes told him a different story.

"Well, Yzak has a nice voice" Miriallia smiled lightly. "Ever consider becoming a rock singer? Lacus can show you how. She got lots of contact"

"Miss Haww, let me assure you that Yzak as a singer is tragic" Dearka who sat on the opposite site of Miriallia attempted at making Miriallia stayed focus on him.

"Well, it's not that bad Dearka, he beat Athrun in karaoke competition" Nicol smiled.

"There's a karaoke center here?" Lacus blinked in surprised.

"Uh huh…and it's Miguel's. Remember? The blond one that you met yesterday?" the green haired lad nodded while shoving in a piece of roasted meat in his mouth.

Yzak watched Lacus' facial expression that changed into from a confused one to a joyful one. So he guessed that she did remember Miguel's face.

"Forget about that useless brat" he spat out and Dearka's purple eyes bore into him in that instant.

"Brat? Just because by skill he's a better singer? Aww…"

"Fuc—" Yzak stopped himself before he managed to spat out the cusses in front of the women there. He was at the edge of his patient but the image of his mother's disappointment look flashed in his mind in a split second. After all, his mother taught him not to swear in front of female. So, he took a deep breath before he spoke in his venomous tone, "I'm not a singer and I will not become one"

Lacus blinked numerously as she silently watched the whole ordeal in that dining room. Dearka and Yzak were still in an argument, Nicol was holding a conversation with Miriallia and her brunette friend reciprocated the same passion to him. On the other hand, Athrun was silently observing Cagalli while the latter kept her gaze on the food.

"Come on Lacus, finish up your food so that we can go to that damn meeting! I'm going to die here because of these morons!"

Her mouth was slightly opened as she stared squarely at him. Currently, he was still in argument with Dearka and he probably didn't have the slightest clue in him on what he just said earlier.

Lacus swallowed her carrot and she was glad that no one aware that she was currently suppressing her blush. It was a blessing that everyone was so busy with whatever they were doing right now.

Her smiled was getting wider when her mind replayed his earlier words.

'_He said 'Lacus'…. he said my name'_

* * *

The Vesalius Town's committee meeting ended successfully at 10 pm and currently, they were all in the hall's canteen for a light snack. Lacus smiled when she reminisced what happened in that meeting. She was introduced formally as the new member of the town and received a thunderous clap from the town dwellers. Probably because she was a woman, she thought. Well, Yzak had been warning her various times that the town was in scarcity of females and wanted her to be extra cautious if in the future, someone tried to approach her.

She giggled when she remembered the nickname his friends tagged on him. 'Old Man Yzak'… how perfectly it fitted to him.

"Happy?"

His baritone voice instantly took her attention on him. Earlier, he was no where in sight and right now, he suddenly appeared by her side. There was a cup of hot tea in his hand while the other one was a saucer of wheat crackers. He shoved the saucer to her but she declined it politely. She was contented with just a cup of tea that she was having now.

"I _am_ happy. The people here are nice"

"They are"

She nodded slowly and then, both of them fell in silence. They just stood there side by side, discreetly appreciating each other presence while watching their friends chatted with the rest of the town dwellers. Her blue eyes spotted her blonde friend in the middle of the crowd. Athrun was standing beside Cagalli as if he was some kind of bodyguard as the latter listened to whatever the crowds were saying. Being a news-anchor of the famous TV station in ORB instantly made her blonde friend the focus of the night. Everyone was taking turn to inform Cagalli the problem the town was currently facing or more like, what they were currently facing.

On the other hand, Miriallia was still talking to Nicol and Lacus aware how close the two became. Both were talkative so no doubts they would click right away.

"Watching them?"

Yzak spoke again and Lacus nodded.

"They look close as if they've been friends for a long time" she chuckled.

"Nicol is just like that. He's a sociable person"

"And so as Miriallia"

"Do you think there'll be something between them?"

"Who knows? Maybe"

"Dearka's lost then"

She chuckled lightly while he sneered. It was obvious how Miriallia had been keeping distance from Dearka. Lacus wasn't really sure why but she had a guess that Miriallia was uncomfortable with Dearka being over-friendly with her.

"While for that blue imbecile, I suddenly have this guess that he's a news-freak because of your blonde friend"

"News freak?"

"He wouldn't miss it. I mean that ORB-101 news"

"Well, Cagalli is excellent. She naturally attracts people to her"

"Not me then"

Her blue eyes shifted from the pool of tea in her cup to Yzak. She just realized that all their conversation that night only focusing about their friends. So, what about them? Weren't he curious about her as much as she curious about him? Didn't he cared about them? They were neighbors after all...

"Then… How about me?" she blurted out.

Instantly, he choked on his tea and Lacus quickly patted his back. He turned his back on her and placed the cup on the table.

"It's time to go home. Come on, I'll send you home"

She just nodded and decided that she'd get her answer from him tomorrow or maybe day after tomorrow.

The ride home was not as quiet as she expected. Yzak turned the radio on and once in a while, he would comment how awful nowadays' music compared to what he heard in his high school years. She listened to his comments before adding her own. Truthfully, she wasn't into pop but a mixed of orchestra sound into electric pop was her guilty pleasure. Lately, she had been listening to Meer Campbell's song titled 'Emotion' and often, she thought that song would be better if they added some violin sound in it.

"Oh shit!"

She right away turned to look at him bewilderedly. He never cursed in front of her before, so what made him cursed?

His gaze was fixed on the main road and she slowly turned her head towards his eyes' sight of direction.

"Oh my…!" she gasped.

In front of them was a huge packed of wolves and they were completely blocked. Yzak abruptly stepped on the break causing Lacus to bump her head on the dashboard. He wanted to reach at her and took a look at her now, swelling forehead but honestly, he didn't have any time for that.

The wolves started to scramble away from that place and Yzak sensed something terrible was going to happen soon. And it wasn't long before the worst thing took place.

His blue eyes widened when he saw a mass of snow, ice and rocks falling rapidly down from the mountainside.

"AVALANCHE!"

* * *

**A/N:**

1- Hello everyone! This chapter is actually two chapters combined into one, so that's why it's damn long..lol. I combined it because I missed an update last week. The next chapter is the last one, so stay tune...*slapping my self* after I done this story, I'll get back to the rest of my stories!

2- Lol, here're some things that I referred as I wrote this story.

- Vesalius Town is lacking of women since in GSEED, (as I'm aware of) there're no women staff in Vesalius Ship.

- Miguel's Japanese voice actor is Takanori Nishikawa (TM Revolution ), therefore in my sense (Hah!) Yzak's vocal got owned lol..

- Meer had her own song; "Emotion", go check it if you wonder how it sounds ^^

3- I didn't take a second look on the grammars. Sorry, it's 5am here..lol.. I shall go to sleep now.

4- Lastly, **thank you to the reviewers and those who read this story**. I know it's crap haha... XD


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed series.**

Happy reading, I hope the grammatical errors aren't too much...

~Chapter - 4~

* * *

Winter was nearly come to the end. There was no need for the snowplow truck to come over to clear the road on daily basis. There were no more little ice crystals on trees' branches and there were no more mountains of snow that camouflaged the beauty of Vesalius Town. Greenish buds were starting to grow on the trees' branches and sprigs hinting that spring really were just round the corner.

She wiped the cold window's glass with the back of her palm slowly before staring straight at the red-bricked house that was surrounded by the pine trees.

Finally, she could see his house from her room's window. Even so, the one that she longed for was not there.

Two weeks already passed by since that tragedy. Nonetheless, it felt like years to her. She hadn't seen him since that day. Not even his shadow.

'_Lacus!' _

She closed her eyes as she vividly remembered how he called her to get under him. She hadn't really remembered what was happening except the sound of the car's windows shattering and the sound of herself panicking. Really, that night she thought she'd died. If he hadn't shielded her with his own body, she probably ended more than just a broken arm.

A hollow sigh escaped from her lips as she looked at his house from her balcony. From his chimney, there was a continuous emission of smoke.

What was he doing right now?

How about his injuries? Was it healed yet?

She took a deep breath after realizing that she had been thinking about him since the last two hours. Let's be optimist, Yzak Joule probably in his house reading some books while indulging his black coffee.

"Lacus?"

She heard someone called her and quickly, she put a smile on her face before turning around. Frowning, weeping, lamenting and the rest of words that gave similar meaning to that were so not Lacus Clyne.

However, she wasn't fond of her hypocrite self either. It was due to circumstances like this that she had to show to the people that she loved dearly that she was okay, although inside, it was totally the opposite of that. If she could, she wanted to bang Yzak's front door, barged into his house and choked him senselessly for making her worried about him. Of course, that is… if she could do that.

"Oh gosh Lacus, didn't I tell you to take a rest?"

Miriallia folded her arms as she walked towards her. There was a worried expression on her face. Her turquoise eyes carefully examined the pinkette from head to toe.

Sensing Miriallia's scrutinizing stares, she poked Miriallia's cheek playfully before flashing her white teeth, "I'm perfectly okay mother hen. I just want to move around a little bit, I had enough lazing on the bed for a week"

"Uh..huh… sure. I can see that" Miriallia replied with disbelieving look. Then, a minute later a gentle smile appeared on her face.

Her father always told her that she was a lucky person and she couldn't agree more. Indeed, having Miriallia and Cagalli by her side was lucky enough. Both Miriallia and Cagalli had been taking turns to help with her chores since one of her hand was currently broken. Not only that, both of her friends had been her emotional support. They slept on same bed, talking about girls' stuff, complaining about their bosses and wondering when they would ever be rich. Of course with their companies, she hadn't feel lonely at all but whenever she walked to her balcony and saw his house, she would unconsciously thinking about him. For two weeks, she didn't even hear anything about him. His friends were also tight-lipped about anything regarding him. Why were they suddenly so secretive about him? What was the thing that they tried to keep as secret from her?

She took a last glance at his house before facing Miriallia, "I want to get out…uhm…grocery shopping"

There was a silence from Miriallia and by the way Miriallia raised an eyebrows, she knew that she was already busted.

"Hmm… really?" Miriallia rubbed her chin while giving her the expecting look.

She sighed tiredly, "I... feel suffocate in this house. I want to get out", then she put a smile on her face, "I want to be in the last drop of snow outside. What do you think Miss Haww?"

Miriallia giggled before patting gently her uninjured shoulder, "That's more like it. Come on, I'll be your chauffer today. I need buy some snacks for myself too"

"Don't. You'll get fat"

"Nah… don't care"

* * *

He slowly closed his curtain when her figure disappeared into the car.

It seemed that she was really fine as his friends informed to him and he was really glad that her injuries weren't as bad as his.

At least, the one with scars on face was only him and not her. Or else, he would be feeling guiltier to her. It was him that decided to return home earlier than others. If he just stayed at the hall and went back together with the others, she wouldn't have to suffer any injuries at all.

"_You should at least tell her that you're still breathing"_

"_She asked about you again yesterday"_

"_Don't be a pain in the ass Yzak. Don't be sorry for her. It's not your fault. It's not her fault either"_

He growled before kicking hard the small desk beside him. The vase on that desk fell down and shattered to pieces.

"_Stop hiding"_

His friends were all wrong! He was not hiding! It's just that, he wasn't ready to face her with badly scarred face. He looked really hideous and ugly compared to her angelic features.

At this time, he really hoped that he was dead as he knew he was screwed when something whispered in his ears that he won't have any chance with her after this.

He shook his head.

Why was he thinking about chances with her? She deserved someone better than him. Maybe, someone with gentler expression than him, someone who can openly showed her how he loved her. Perhaps, she would be better with someone with brown hair rather than plain whitish hair like him, or probably someone who had tanner skin than his own.

He sighed as he took his crutches and walked slowly to his room. Each step was really painful and at every step he took, he denied his desire of wanting to see her.

"Dumbass woman, I'm fucking screwed"

* * *

This was the first time she got out from the house since the accident.

The weather was still cold but it wasn't at the level of freezing Antarctica as weeks ago. Spring was just around the corner and it brought anticipation to her, as much as waiting for the first snow to fall.

She raised her right hand at her chest level and made her palm facing the sky. Slowly, she gazed to the greyish sky and watched the snow fell down until some of it landed on her palm. Then, she closed her palm and opened it a moment later. The snow on her palm already melted and wetting her woollen glove.

'_Tiny, fragile things, if we don't take a good care of it, it will vanish. And when it disappears, would we try to even remember how it looked like? How it feels like? Would we even realize that it's already gone? Don't neglect simple things Lacus, small things… do wonders'_

Her late father's words that echoed in her mind faded away slowly when she heard Miriallia's voice from afar. Her head turned to the left and right to search for her friend and when she saw her running towards her, she smiled.

"Look, I got us some cranberry pickles, crackers and barbeque flavoured chips. Cagalli will come later and I got her some spicy rice crackers" Miriallia dangled the plastic bags right in front of Lacus' face. Then, with a frowning face she continued, "Aww…don't give me that look gurl. I know you'll said something like _'This is unhealthy Miri. You might get diabetes!'_" Miriallia mimicked Lacus' voice and the pinkette laughed heartily.

"Yes, I was about to say that but you cut me out first" Lacus folded her arms and gave Miriallia the look that all mothers did to their naughty kids, "And yes it's really unhealthy and you know what will I do as punishment for you?"

"What?"

"Salad"

"What?!"

"I said, salad. Salad as our dinner"

"Hold up lady, I'm the one who does the cooking"

"Not tonight Miss Haww" she winked at her friend, "Salad as agreed"

"I don't remember agreeing about salad" Miriallia eyed put her hands on her waist and stared at Lacus' amused face.

She used her right hand to pull Miriallia's arm and then started walking, "I'm joking Miri. I want to start using my kitchen tonight. You've done much for me"

"Nah… That's what friends for. Anyway, your salad punishment on the other hand is what annoying friend would do"

They went into several shops before she stopped in front of a certain bookstore.

'_Joule Books'_

She read the store's name in her mind and there was a _*ding*_ sound when she opened the door. If his bookstore was opened for customers, that it meant only one thing.

'_He's here. Definitely'_

There were rows of high, wooden bookshelf greeting her sight and she walked towards the counter. Miriallia trailed slowly behind her, amazed at the marvellous collection of books there.

"Welcome to Joule Books"

When she finally saw the counter, she was disappointed that he wasn't there. Instead, standing behind the counter was a lady, probably in her 30's… smiling politely at her. She observed that lady's features and her mind quickly assumed that she bloodily related to Yzak.

Her silver hairs and those sparkling blue eyes were already an obvious clue.

A moment later, there was a man with blond hair slightly passed his shoulder approaching that lady. She immediately recognized him as the head of the town; Chief Rau Le Creuset when he turned his head to face her.

They exchanged smiled before Chief Rau ushered her to come towards them.

"I believe you two have never met?" he asked, particularly at Lacus.

The silver head lady's eyes roamed subtly at her before briefly looked at her casted left arm.

"I'm Lacus Clyne" she introduced herself as she offered her right hand for a handshake.

"Ezalia Joule, I've wanted to see you with my own eyes before but you see I'm stuck here taking care of my son's beloved bookstore. You might be thinking why you haven't seen me around these past week" she smiled and her gaze reminded her of her own late mother, "… I stayed at Septemberius Nine every winter. In fact, lots of women here stay out of Vesalius until spring"

Well, that explained why she had seen more women these days. They were gradually returning to Vesalius as winter almost done.

"How's he?" she asked carefully as she stared at Ezalia's blue eyes. Somehow, it felt like Yzak was staring at her. But then, his mother's gaze was unquestionably softer than his.

There was a faint smile crossed on Ezalia's face and Lacus' heartbeat became erratic.

"He's fine. But just… emotionally unstable"

For her, what Ezalia had just said, awfully same like announcing someone's death to her. What did she mean by 'Emotionally unstable'?

Miriallia who stood beside her just kept in silence. She probably was as shocked as herself.

"For that Ezalia, as I mentioned before, there was a plastic surgery clinic in Kusanagi Town that can fix Yzak's scars. And the price is affordable" Chief Rau patted Ezalia's shoulder gently before placing his hands on the counter.

Miriallia and Lacus unconsciously gasped as they heard the word, 'scars'. So, how much damage that he suffered?

"I don't think he'd like that. You know him Rau" Ezalia threw her gaze outside the window. There was some kind of solemn in her blue eyes that Lacus noticed.

"And with his legs crippled…" Rau added but he stopped after seeing Lacus' mouth opened wide.

"You don't know?" Ezalia's eyes widened before she sighed, "No wonder, Yzak must have told something to his friends to keep you out of anything about him. Listen dear, Yzak's face is badly scarred. He never voiced out anything about it but I think he just lost some percent of confidence in him. He doesn't even want to go out! And his legs…"

She tried to find better words to describe how sorry she felt for him, but she couldn't. Part of it was her fault after all. He shielded her with his own body and she could remember how deafening the sound of glasses shattering that night.

"I… I'm sorry"

Rau and Ezalia exchanged looks while Miriallia patted her back.

"It should have been me"

Then, tears flowed from her eyes.

"He protected me…. Always"

She tried to wipe her damped cheek but her tears wouldn't stop flowing from her eyes. Her tears began to wet her woollen glove and her purple jacket.

"It…. Should have been… me…"

Ezalia walked towards her and embraced her. Slowly, she patted Lacus' head, "Hush dear…. Stop crying. Stop blaming yourself"

"But..!"

Ezalia put her in a distance and wiped Lacus' tears away from her cheeks with her thumbs, "Things happened for a reason. You two should meet and talk. I wish the best for both of you"

"But… what if he's mad at me?"

Her sky blue eyes damped from her tears and her cheeks were puffy and red.

Ezalia took her handkerchief from her jacket's pocket and wiped Lacus' cheeks tenderly, "I think…." She gave Lacus a motherly smile, "… he's waiting for you"

* * *

His house was empty, dark and cold.

"_But your house is warmer"…_ was what Nicol said two weeks ago. He didn't even remember how the temperature in his house changed from cold, warm and cold again. To him, his house was always colder than his friends' houses. It was just that… maybe it was because she always came to deliver him a basket of hot, baked cookies and cupcakes. Her sweet pastries added together with his bitter coffee…it was just…

"Compatible"

He pinched his nosebridge as he realized that his thoughts went to her again.

The ringing bell at his front door snapped him out of his thoughts. He didn't really want to open the door and scare anyone in the daylights but he wasn't the one who like to entertain a visitor too. Meh… it probably the three morons again, always coming to his place to nag at him. Couldn't they just leave him alone?

_-Ding-dong-ding-_

_-Ding-dong-ding-_

_-Ding-dong-ding-_

'_Those morons are so stubborn!'_ he thought. Probably, this was the best time for him to use the crutches in his hands to spank them in the head. His itsy-bitsy patience was already running out anyway.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT BASTARDS?!"

He yelled not far from the front door. The door was still close tightly and he didn't plan to open it any time soon. If those douchebags wanted a place to hang out, they can choose other damn place!

"Yzak…?"

That feminine voice from the other side of the door slowly calmed him from his anger.

"…It's me"

He was struggling with his crutches as he moved closer to the door. Her voice sounded so weak, so fragile…

"I met your mom at the bookstore, and I thought… I should apologize"

"Don't" He spoke flatly as he stared at the closed door. He could just imagine that she stood in front of her, with her fingers entwined together as she worried about him. He knew she was.

He already heard from those imbeciles about how many times she asked about him at them. And as many times as she did, he asked them not to spill anything at her.

"Yzak, let me see you"

_'No. Not with me looking like this'_

"Your mom told me about your scars"

"…"

"I'm sorry, it's my fault…"

"GO AWAY WOMAN! I DON'T WANT YOU HERE AGAIN, YOU HEARD ME?!"

He heard her sobs and his heart wrenched. He didn't mean it. To be honest, he just wanted to hold her hands and comfort her, saying to her that it wasn't her fault. If he could protect her more, he would do it. He was glad that she didn't get as much injuries as him. He just couldn't say it, because he was Yzak Joule.

He was the cold beast while she was the warm angel.

He was the blizzard in winter while she was the breeze in spring.

"Yzak! Aren't you selfish?" her sobs continued and he couldn't help but to cry silently.

"I want to see you because I…"

Stop. Don't say it.

"… miss you…"

Dumbass woman.

"… and I'm sorry for hurting you…"

"Clyne, just go. Don't look back" he said rigidly. He was trying to hold in his own tears from continuing to flow from his eyes. It was hard for him to digest all her feelings towards him in one second. What did he do to make her attach to him? He didn't really show his kindness towards her. It was the opposite actually. She was the one who lighten up his days. He never asked her to listen to his stories, to share her pastries and he never asked her to care about him.

But deep down inside him, he was grateful.

It's just that, she deserved someone better.

Someone who was gentler than him.

"Last Winter Ball. I'll wait you there. I dare you to come Yzak Joule"

She challenged him? Was she implying that he was a coward?

He turned the doorknob and opened the door anxiously.

He expected to see the long, wavy pink haired woman standing there...

...But there was nothing, only her cherry blossom scent remained.

* * *

She brushed her long pink hair as she stared at the window. The snow began to fall again, drifting against the window, politely begging for the entrance before it landed to the ground with disappointment.

So, it was still snowing, even though not as much as before.

Today was the last snowy day. Tomorrow is the starting of spring.

"Lacus you look wonderful!"

Miriallia came into her room while clasping her hands. She smiled at Miriallia before standing up and twirled. The white-purple dress that she wore twirled, matching to every of her movement.

"Really? Hmm… you look good yourself Miri"

Miriallia was wearing a knee length, orange sleeveless dress. There was a small bow at her chest and on her hands, there was a pair of orange gloves.

Last Winter Ball was an annual festival to celebrate the last day of winter and welcoming the spring. She heard it from Chief Rau when she attended the town committee meeting four weeks ago. It was also to celebrate the return of the town's ladies. The mothers, sisters, fiancées and the girlfriends would reunite with their beloved tonight.

Miriallia and Cagalli were going as well. Part of it, because they insisted to go to accompany her in case that Yzak wouldn't come. The other part of their reason was because they were asked by Dearka and Athrun. She knew how both of their friends at first were very reluctant to accept but when she told them about she was going to wait for Yzak tonight, they immediately agreed to be Athrun's and Dearka's dates.

"Ugh, I hate my hair. Lacus, fix it for me?"

Cagalli barged into the room in her green dress. The dress fitted to her torso like a second skin and the skirt flowed from her waist to her knees. A necklace hung around her neck and the Haumea pendant rested on her chest.

"Come here" Lacus ushered Cagalli to seat in front of the mirror and she started to tie the golden strands into two ponytails.

"I'll punch that Joule's face tomorrow if he doesn't come tonight" Cagalli blurted out. Her eyes showed how annoyed she was.

"Oh, he'll come. I just placed a bet with Dearka" said Miriallia who stood beside Cagalli. She was putting some blusher on her face and she instantly turned to face Cagalli when she heard her snickers.

"What?" the brunette asked.

"Ooh… first name basis now eh?" Cagalli playfully teased the flushing red brunette. Lacus was simply smiling as she heard that. Of course she knew how determined Dearka was. Since weeks ago, all he talked about was Miriallia, Miriallia and Miriallia.

"Don't start Cagalli. I'm not like you. Running away from your suitors"

"I don't like to entertain dimwits"

"Now you two stop" Lacus suddenly interfered and the both of her friends shut up. After tucking a red flower in each of Cagalli's ponytails, she placed a hand on Cagalli's shoulder.

"It's time to stop bickering and move. Or we'll be late"

Athrun and Dearka came in their cars and Lacus went together with Cagalli in Athrun's red car.

"I want to praise your dress Lacus, but I think you'd prefer to hear it from the old man Yzak" Athrun said as he drove to the centre of the town.

"Thank you Athrun" she smiled. To be honest, she wasn't even sure if he came tonight.

She was too confident that it scared her.

* * *

"Yzak is such a coward"

Dearka fluidly twirled Miriallia as they waltzed slowly.

There was a huge bonfire at the centre and approximately 300 people dancing around it. All of them had a smile in their face, displaying how happy they were dancing with their other half.

His purple eyes stared at one secluded spot where a pinkette wrapped in purple dress stood, waiting for some idiot named Yzak Joule. Her face looked cheerful despite standing there alone.

And he couldn't help but feeling like to punch Yzak in the face.

"Cagalli and I are so gonna kick him in the crotch tomorrow" Miriallia muttered slowly but very bitterly.

"Whoa… chill down beauty. Kicking the bad guys is supposed to be my job" he winked at her.

"Can I count on you?"

"Always"

* * *

The bonfire was slowly getting smaller. It was already 11.30 pm and the crowds were slowly begun to clear. However, there was still a classic song played in the background, accompanying those who were still immersed in dancing with their partners.

"He's late"

Cagalli muttered under her breath as she watched Lacus who was still standing alone. Oh, Yzak was going to get some punches from her tomorrow.

She felt like he was smirking so she raised her head up to face him. And she was correct, Athrun Zala was smirking like an idiot that she'd like to slap.

Since they began dancing, he hadn't say anything at her that it irked her very much. She was really annoyed that he was staring at her deeply and because she felt embarrassed, she had been glancing anywhere but him.

"Why do you keep staring at me? Do I look weird?"

He chuckled and it made her heart picked up a few pace faster.

"I just…" he breathed in, "… want to memorize every detail of you"

She blushed and unconsciously slapped him at the shoulder, "Sugar mouth aren't you?"

"Sugar mouth? You mean… sweet talker?" he chuckled again and her cheeks flushed in red.

"I say whatever I want Zala" she released her hands from his grasp and started to walk towards Lacus. She couldn't bear it seeing her friend stood there alone.

"Where are you going?" he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. Her body squashed in his arms. When she stared at his emerald eyes, there was something there that she couldn't even name it but it gave some butterflies in her tummy. She never felt that way when she stared at Yuuna's eyes.

She was about to say something but he leaned in closer that their nose almost touched, "Don't go there, he's making his way to her"

Her eyes widened and immediately, she turned her head towards Lacus. Then, she realized something, there was someone in black outfits from head to toe standing not far behind Lacus. He was wearing a black beret but the silver strands that tucked behind his ears were just a dead giveaway.

"Shall we continue our dance?"

His voice brought her back to him and slowly, she nodded. She wasn't sure whether the fluttering butterflies in her tummy were a good sign for her or not.

But staying here with him, felt just right.

* * *

She stared at the ground and smiled.

To be honest, she was a bit disappointed and embarrassed that she was the only one standing there without her partner. But if she showed how lonely she was, her friends would come here and ditched their partners. She didn't want that to happen. After all, she was still hoping for him to come. She was a very persistent person and once she had decided on something, she'd follow through.

Something grabbed her arm from behind and twirled her harshly.

Her eyes widened when she saw him standing in front of her with a crutch under his armpit. His face was bandaged but she could still see his eyes.

"Happy Halloween?"

Initially, she was trying to joke to ease the tension between them, however, a minute later, she aware how cold her joke.

"Uuh… I mean…" she tried to correct her words as she afraid that he'd misunderstood her earlier statement.

However, the sound of his chuckles surprised her.

"Funny" he then, commented dryly.

"I'm sorry"

Fortunately, there was still a classical music in the background blaring loudly to cover the awkwardness in between them.

"Doctor said I shouldn't move much but who cares..?" he shoved one of his hands towards her, "Dance?"

She eyed his cemented leg before staring at his bandaged face, "I think what the doctor said is right. You shouldn't move much. Sorry for making you coming here"

"You, Lacus Clyne dance with me" he tried again, although he almost stuttered. He wasn't used to call girls with their first name but now, it was a different story. He needed to convince her how alright he was.

The days where he spent alone in his room, was used to reflect on himself and think about how to work this foreign feeling he felt about her. Then, he decided that she was right about he was being a coward although, she never really said that on his face. The day when she made a dare to him, was the day when he understood that how dumb he was.

He was a coward.

He was afraid of the possibilities being with her.

He was afraid that he would hurt her.

He was afraid that he wasn't the right person for her.

But now, seeing her waiting for him, it just made his will strengthen and he knew what he had decided was right.

So, he grabbed her hand and put it on his shoulder, one of his hands went to her waist.

Oh, how perfectly she fitted in his embrace!

"Don't look down on me. I can manage one or two dances"

Lacus smiled widely and rested her head on his chest, "Never"

He threw his crutch to the side and put his hand around her shoulder for support. She wrapped both of her hands around him to give more support for him.

"After all, I believe in Yzak Joule"

She could see that their friends were smiling at them and she knew that she couldn't hide her joy anymore that tears started to come out from her left eye.

"You weren't suppose to mean that much to me and I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you" he muttered slowly, but enough for Lacus to hear him.

They stopped for a while when some snow landed on their noses. His index finger slowly went to her face and those snows melted under his finger. He trailed her nosebridge and slowly went down towards her cherry lips.

Their eyes locked at each other and nothing else matters.

People said, the first snow was like a first love but then, the last snow was an eternal love.

~Goodbye winter~

* * *

**A/N: **

1- Finally, the end. I know, I'm a bit late posting this but please excuse me, hectic days in camp aren't helping at all. And sorry if the flow seems fast, this chap is made in a rush.

2- Lacus didn't say the word love, but you know, love isn't just a word, it needs to be proved by actions right?

3- Thank you for those who have been reading and reviewing this story. I know Lacus-Yzak is bizarre but then, I had fun writing this. I've been listening to "Ashita Hareru Kana" Piano version while writing this chapter.

4- See you soon, hope you guys have a memorable spring ^^.


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